Great Lake, Great Adventures PV Ross Closed

Ross had never skipped a meal before, yet that streak seemed to end that day. He had been planning to skip dinner the entirety of the day just so he could make his way to the Great Lake at night. Usually the Great Lake had chatter of friends and gossip; however, the only exception to this seemed to be at the dining hall's peak: Dinner. Sure he would end up starving, but it was not as if the boy cared. He had plenty of snacks he snuck into his little nook of a room he had in the boy's part of the common room.

So now Ross sat right next to the great lake. It was the perfect weather for what he was planning. The air was humid due to April showers prior to the day, allowing dew drops to collect on the grass. While it was uncomfortable, it could not have been a better setting for himself. The twinkling stars above him were reflected in the dark water of the lake. It brought some sort of comfort to the boy in all honesty.

Ross had two vital things with him: His wand, and a book with a dark, plain cover. The book itself was placed gently next to Ross, opened to a page quite early in the book. Though nobody knew, it was Ross' book of spells. Well, more of Knox Stephen's book of spells. Ross relied on it heavily, and used it as frequently as he could. The spells themselves were not that difficult, but it was nice to have another view on what a person was doing in his opinion.

Ever since the lumos incident, Ross was paranoid. He refused to mess anything up again, and that is why this setting was simply so perfect for him. He could not hurt anyone if he was alone, right? This way, he could get the points and spells down. It was the ideal surrounding: nothing to catch on fire from what he believed.

The only spell he knew could hurt anyone he knew truly was Incendio, and Ross knew well it was important to get this time down as perfect as he could. He leaned over to the side to examine the book, rereading the same sentence over and over again. He swore he had it down, but what if he did not?

Taking a deep breath, Ross stood up and backed away from the lake. He refused to drop his wand in the water, as he knew well there had to be something dangerous in there. Well, that was what his overactive imagination would tell him at least.

Pointing the wand stiffly forward, he found himself feeling awkward; however, now was not the time to give up on it. Starting his wand in the lower left, he did a circular curve to the top of it. He flicked it slightly, only to mirror the exact thing.

INCENDIO!

the boy exclaimed, his voice at best sounding only shaky.

As nothing immediately happened, Ross lowered his guard. He pointed his wand slightly to the ground, and that was when it all went wrong.

Hie shoe caught on fire

That was when the boy shrieked like a banshee, and soon being alone was now his downfall. There was nobody to cry to help to, and as his adrenaline kicked in he found himself unable to concentrate. What should he do? Where should he go? It clouded his mind, as the fire began to spread to the grass surrounding him.

The only thing Ross could hear was the scream of 'are you okay', and if he had been in any better state he would have found himself either laughing or making a sarcastic remark. Was he okay? Of course he was not! His foot was on fire! Sure there was that goop he learned in potions or something that cured it, but it was not like he had any on him at the time! He did not think he would be setting himself on fire, even though he was going to practice the spell that quite literally meant fire. Either way, he refused to respond to that. Well more of, he could not respond to that. He was on fire.

He was hardly paying attention to the girl,but instead the flames that creeped closer and closer to him. Sure his foot was on fire, but it would do him no good if the other one caught on fire as well. It was not until she snatched his wrist that he let out another loud cry: Of COURSE his foot was burned. It was no sun burn either, and his best hope could just be a severe first degree burn; however, he doubted it only reached the first layer of skin.

As she pulled him closer and closer to the lake, his heartbeat accelerated to the point he swore it was going to find itself pounding out of his chest and jumping into the lake first. Sure it was decent weather, but that never meant the lake would be decent. It was freezing in those depths, and while it was not a good idea to fight fire with fire it was never a good long term idea to fight a person on fire with freezing water unless one was playing Club Penguin.

With a small shove, he went hurdling towards the lake and when it hit he found himself not sure if he should feel better or worse. The fire was out, but his foot felt like it was going through the seven stages of grief at the exact same time while also made physical. He needed that goop now, and he did not care who was going to get it to him.

While Ross did not normally know how to swim well, luckily for him adrenaline was practically doing it all for him. As he arrived at the top of the lake he let out a noise of pain.

"BURN HEALING PASTE! GET IT!"

he exclaimed as he surfaced, blatantly shivering.

Of course the girl did not have any though. Only people in the medical bay really did. As soon as he was to come back to his senses, there was no doubt he would be a balling mess. He did not need this right now, but luckily he was not back to his senses. He was back at the second stage of the pyramid and it would take at least an hour to get him back to his regular self.

"It wasn't exactly like I was tryin' to!"

the boy snapped, clearly emotional.

"I was just tryin' to-"

he cut himself off, shivering once more as he tried to think.

It hurt too much to think right now. He knew how to think, but why could he not? Oh right. He was shivering in the water and his foot was just set on fire. At least it was cold, not hot. It could have been a lot worse but that logic was not running through his head right now. He was just thinking of how he almost died.

"T..The fire, huh?"

he questioned, almost as if he had forgotten.

He was glad he was in a place where he could not touch the bottom of the lake currently, as he knew well it would only put more strain on his foot. On the downside, there were monsters down there and Ross wanted little to nothing to do with them. It would be too much for him at the moment.

A quick rush of anxiety overwhelmed him as he realized something

Where was his wand?

The world was going to end if he lost his precious wand. It matched with him and him only. He could never imagine it being taken or.. even gone. It was like another life to him.

"MY WAND!"

he exclaimed as the thought rushed to him, hastily glancing around until he looked to his left.

The wand

It would only make sense. It was rather light after all, it was like driftwood to this place most likely. He would have sighed of relief if he knew it was over, but he hastily pulled the stick towards him. This thing meant everything to him, and if anything were to happen to it he had no idea what he would do. This is what told him he was special. This was what told him he had some sort of identity. It was vital to him.

Looking back to the lights that danced together on the grass, knowledge rushed to him at the wrong time.

"The Extinguishing charm... I need.. I need to use that!"

he whispered, out of breath.

He was really going to force himself to do this, wasn't he? Dread weighed on him as much as his soaked clothes would in a moment. It was just some dumb grass, but he had to did he not? With only motivation in his mind, he knew well this would possibly be one of the worst things he had to do. he had been burned in the kitchen many times as a child, but usually it did not involve fire dancing along his shoes until they trampled through them.

Forcing himself forward, he swam. It was light on his foot, but he felt as if he could turn into an ice cube and be put in some giant's tea at any second now. He avoided his foot touching the ground by swimming with his undamaged one, and still swimming in the shallow ends. It was not until he brought his arm to the grassy ground that he felt the shock of pain come to him once more. He forced himself above water, but stayed laying down.

The fire was in sight, and that was enough for Ross.

"Extinguo!"

Ross cried as he pointed his soaking wand towards the location, now only looking like an orange blob to him, his voice sounding like he was clenching back pain.

Much to Ross' surprise, it worked. A silver mist began to scatter around until the only fire left was what was keeping Ross alive inside of him. He anxiously looked around, trying to make eye contact with the girl who saved him through the dark; however, it did not work out well. It felt like it was a terrible dream, and in that moment he felt his head collapse into his arms as he began to sob.

"I need another shoe..."

he sobbed through muffled breaths of air.

As Ross gasped through sobs, the last thing he expected was a self insult on her behalf. Ross was the one who nearly died, not her. Ross was the one who literally set himself on fire without supervision by accident and felt it was a good idea, not her. Sure she had acted a bit ridiculous, but Ross would give her at least a B+ for trying. Her heart had seemed to be in the right place the entire time. It was not like she had done anything wrong really, actually if it were not for her he would have quite literally burned to death. Though the boy was about to close his eyes and fall asleep right there, praying it was all a bad dream, as soon as she claimed she did not do much Ross only groaned before interjecting with the only thing he knew how to: slight emotional maturity for his age.

"You... you saved my life though." he remarked, still sprawled out on the ground pathetically "I sorta accidentally set myself on fire y'know. That stuff doesn't just happen. I should be thanking you." he mumbled, tilting his head to the side so he could look at the girl that saved him.

Sure he could not see her well, but it was alright. The boy was simply relieved everything was alright, even if some things were damaged. His wand seemed fine, just soggy. Hopefully it could dry out, or maybe he could just put a towel over it. His glasses were certainly wet, and there was a small crack in the glass. Lucky for him, he knew the spell that repaired minor things. It would be quite convenient at least, instead of being a living nightmare like the rest had all been.

As the girl panicked and inquired if he wanted lemon drops, Ross could really only smile. He probably would have done the same in her shoes, but somehow would have managed to make it all so much worse. Right now he would likely be much more reassuring if he was more awake, alas that was not working out for him as he felt exhausted from the sudden rush. Out of nowhere, he felt his stomach growl. It was a friendly reminder he had not even had dinner yet.

"Can I.. er.. Can I have a lemon drop actually?" he inquired, a small yet recognizable smile on his face that any person who knew him well would claim was far too weak to truly be him.

Ross was normally a hyperactive, inquisitive boy who overthought. Now he hardly had enough room in his brain to think of one thing, much more many at once. It was sort of peaceful, but he was not really a fan of it. In all honesty, he knew well the only way to get all of this taken care of was to be taken to the medical wing, and in all honesty he doubted he could do it alone. When she mentioned she should probably leave, Ross practically jumped which was certainly a lot for a boy who had just gone through everything he did.

"NO!" he exclaimed a little too hastily. "I mean... erm... Could ya' please take me to the medical wing or whatever it's called?" the boy inquired, tears threatening to fall.

His eyelids felt heavy. He was exhausted, and he would give so much to just fall asleep right here; however, he knew he would regret it in the morning considering he would have to move. It seemed there was no option without pain, but he would prefer the option with the least amount. A helping hand could never hurt.